Charleston, S.C. – Junior Maya McPherson lifted Western Carolina to a walk-off win over UConn on Sunday morning at the CSU Softball Complex with a sacrifice fly that scored sophomore AG Batson to cap a tremendous weekend in the Low Country Classic, co-hosted by Charleston Southern and the College of Charleston. McPherson's game-winning RBI pushed the Catamounts past the Huskies, 2-1, in eight innings to cap the five-game weekend.
Tied at one for much of the day after both teams plated a run in the third inning, Sunday's finale headed to the international tiebreaker in the eighth. After the Catamounts managed to stand a UConn runner at third in the top of the extra frame, junior Sydney Dirks connected on a leadoff single to move extra-inning runner Batson to third. McPherson then connected on a deep flyball to right that allowed Batson to scamper home and give the Catamounts victory.
Coupled with its doubleheader sweep of NC A&T, WCU owns a 5-2 record, marking the best seven-game start to a season since 2022, when the Purple & Gold also went 5-2 to open that season.
Sophomore Amanda Fulton was dialed in down the stretch with two strikeouts in a scoreless seventh before working around the sacrifice bunt to induce a popup and a strikeout to allow the Catamounts to maintain the tie into the bottom of the eighth and eventually claim the 2-1 win.
McPherson, along with Dirks and sophomore Tatum Martin, combined for the only three hits for WCU as offense was hard to come by throughout Sunday's action. McPherson on the sac fly and senior Taylor Waitley on a bases-loaded walk drove in WCU's two runs.
Fulton continued her strong start to the 2026 season with five strikeouts to run her seasonal total to a team-high 23. She scattered seven hits and allowed just one run en route to her second win of the season for the right-handed hurler.
Over the five-game weekend, McPherson led the squad with seven hits at a .438 clip as Dirks, junior Lily Bell, and sophomore Courtney Marks each picked up five hits. Dirks drove in a team-best six runs over the weekend. Fulton in the circle tallied 15 strikeouts over 15 innings, allowing just four earned runs in her three outings.
Fulton worked around early traffic in the opening two frames as four singles got the Huskies early traffic, but she was able to work around the baserunners without harm to keep it scoreless after two. In the home portion of the same innings, the Catamounts had just one hit from McPherson and a fielding error that allowed the only baserunners.
In the third, UConn (2-7) got a leadoff single followed by a steal and a sacrifice bunt before a sacrifice fly to left allowed the Huskies to take an early 1-0 lead.
The Catamounts responded in the bottom half, though, as junior Lily Bell reached on a fielding miscue before a Martin single and a McPherson walk loaded the bags. Waitley drew a free pass to tie the score at one after three complete.
The middle innings saw both teams struggle to get anything going, as just two combined hits between the fourth and seventh from WCU and UConn forced the finale for both squads to extras.
Still knotted at one entering the bottom of the eighth, late-game pinch-hitter Batson entered as the courtesy runner at second before Dirks lined a single through the left side. That was quickly followed by McPherson's sacrifice fly, as WCU secure the 2-1 walkj off winner.
Jessica Walter opened the contest for the Huskies, scattering two hits and allowing an unearned run with four strikeouts. Caprice Bohmer (0-2) tossed the final 3.1 innings, allowing just one hit and the game-winning run with a pair of strikeouts for the Huskies.
The Catamounts return to the friendly confines of the Catamount Softball Complex for a doubleheader against Winthrop on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Winthrop (3-5) went 3-1 as it hosted the Winthrop Garnet & Gold Tournament over the weekend with a win over Robert Morris, Le Moyne, and Kent State. The doubleheader with the Eagles is slated for a Noon first pitch and is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount softball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountsb), or go to www.CatamountSports.com.
